World Equity Group Inc. Invests $561,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

World Equity Group Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $772,930,000 after buying an additional 650,675 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,581,000 after buying an additional 36,474 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,635,000 after buying an additional 276,166 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,472,000 after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 710,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,369,000 after purchasing an additional 126,266 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 2.0 %

LPL Financial stock opened at $371.93 on Monday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $384.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $348.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.00. The stock has a market cap of $27.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. Equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.